3-YO Girl Dies After Being Left In Police Car For Four Hours

A three-year-old girl has died after her police officer mother left her alone for four hours in a patrol car.

Hancock County Chief Deputy Don Bass said the toddler was left in the patrol car for four hours while her mother “was visiting” her colleague, Long Beach patrolman Clark Ladner.

Reports say Ladner did not know the young girl was in the car.

Officials have said the car was running when the child was found in the vehicle. Paramedics worked for 40 minutes “trying to do everything in the world to save her,” but it was too late.

The child’s mother, was reportedly hospitalized after the incident “in shock,” according to the Sun Herald.

According to The Washington Post, the two police officers at first were suspended without pay as authorities investigated the case. A representative of the Long Beach Police Department confirmed to The Post that both Barker and Ladner had been terminated Tuesday but would not comment further.

Forgetting a child in the backseat of a car is a horrifying mistake. Do you think there needs to be tougher punishment for this?